Okay, this chapter is over twice as big as any other chapter I've written before. I decided not to split it, because I'm going to be out of the country from the 27th of July to August 8th, and I will definitely not be able to update until after I come back. This time my cousin is getting married.

Chapter 6: Slumber Party

The day ended with William and I being formally introduced with the rest of the town. When finished, I wasn't just tired or even exhausted, but I was sleepy. So I could wake up in the mornings without hitting the snooze button, my mom had me go to sleep at around the same time each night. It was now 11:30 PM, a whole hour after I'm usually asleep. Time flies when you're chatting with friends, both old and new, in the world of your favorite movie, so that a gas station is the equivalent of a restaurant.

"Oh no, where will William and I sleep?" I asked. Sally had just informed me that she had no vacancy at the Cozy Cone and that the Wheel Well

"You could probably crash at our place," Derek offered.

"Yeah, we have extra blankets and stuff," Tarin said.

"Sweet, slumber party!" Kristopher exclaimed.

At the house that Derek, Tarin, and Kristopher lived in, Kristopher rushed straight inside. The rest of us slowly followed. I made a mistake by being the first one in after Kristopher. I was met with (pwap!) a pillow to the face–or more accurately, the hood.

"Pillow fight!" Kristopher said.

"I'm sorry, Kristopher, but I'm too tired–" I began.

"Maria, Derek's bachelor party is tomorrow evening," Kristopher stated. "Then the next evening the rehearsal dinner, and the next evening is the wedding." He started hitting me lightly and rhythmically with the pillow to emphasize his next sentence. "We may never (pwap!) be able (pwap!) to attack (pwap!) each other (pwap!) with pillows (pwap!) in a slumber-(pwap!)-style setting (pwap!) ever again!"

This brought back memories from when I was still in elementary school. I believe I was about seven years old. My parents were searching for another car to own. They had contemplated purchasing another BMW, like William, but were still unsure. Bored, I decided to wander the lot of pre-owned vehicles. By this time, I had known of my ability to communicate with cars for about three years, and it was more like learning a language. The cars in the human world don't ever have eyes and mouths like in the world of my favorite movie, but I was sure who I was talking to.

Most of the cars I spoke to that day didn't have much to say. Some wanted me to leave them alone, others ignored me completely, and only a select few greeted me and introduced themselves. Kristopher was one of them.

"Hi, what's your name?" I remember asking.

"Y-You're talking to me?" the black BMW had responded timidly.

"Of course I'm talking to you, there's no one else here."

"No one ever talks to me. They only talk about me, and then they move on."

"Yeah, it looks pretty rough being put up for sale like this."

"I only wish I knew where my brother is."

"Oh no, you were separated from your brother? That's horrible! What's his name?"

"His name..." I remember Kristopher's voice breaking here, as if he were crying. "His name is William."

My face had lit up with joy. "Is he beige and looks like you?"

"Yes, he is. You know where he is?"

"Just stay put, I'll be right back." At that moment I ran off to show my parents the new friend I just made. Of course, I only told them "I found a cool car".

"I won't be going anywhere!" Kristopher had called after me.

For about a week after my parents took Kristopher home, I would creep out of the house each night and talk to him and William. At the time, Derek was the vehicle my brother used for college in DC. One night, I was sitting in the grass telling Kristopher about my favorite television show, and the sprinklers suddenly turned on. It didn't bother me; I even dashed around the lawn in my nighties like it was part of a ballet. The next morning I awoke with a cold. My mom started getting worried, since she noticed my lack of sleep and that it was a strange time of year to catch a cold. To avoid worrying my mom much more, without telling her my secret ability, I stopped visiting Kristopher and William every night for a whole month.

On the Saturday before I had to start the second grade, I asked my parents if I could have a camp out on the back porch. I had eaten S'mores and popcorn and read some kiddie books under a flashlight with them. Eventually they went inside and told me it was time to go to sleep. I had a tent set up and everything, so I curled up inside the sleeping bag in there, so they would think I was asleep. When I heard them turn off all the lights and the noise of the TV in their room stop, I picked up the bowl of remaining popcorn with two extra S'mores I had saved and my pillow and went outside.

"I brought you guys a treat!" I had said cheerfully. I strode across the lawn with the bowl on my pillow.

I held the bowl out before them so they could see.

"Uh...Thanks, Maria." Looking back, I'm believe Kristopher wasn't exactly sure what he was thanking me for.

"Maria, I don't think we can eat that stuff," William had stated simply.

"Huh?" Dumbfounded, I looked down at the popcorn bowl, then to Kristopher and William, and back to the bowl. "Aw...I'm so stupid!"

"Don't say that; you know it's not true," William had said calmly.

"But it is," I cried. Tears had begun to flow down my cheeks. I cried over silly things back then.

"Maria," Kristopher began. "You're a very smart girl. You're also really nice. If it weren't for you, we wouldn't have become friends."

"I wouldn't have been able to find my little brother," William had said. "So what if we can't eat the food you brought us? It's the thought that counts."

The dark cloud over my head had finally dissipated, and I smiled at their compliments. "I think you're nice, too. That's why I wanted to bring you something. I'm sorry I couldn't come and talk to you two for a whole month. My mom noticed I wasn't sleeping enough."

"We figured it was because of that." William admitted.

I suddenly had an idea and put the bowl down on the sidewalk. I held the pillow firmly and (pwap!) hit Kristopher on the hood playfully. "Pillow fight!" I had said with a giggle.

"Pillow fight?" Kristopher had repeated.

"It's when two or more friends attack each other with pillows," I explained. "You only use pillows so no one gets hurt. It's a game."

"Hey, I'm unarmed!" Kristopher exclaimed. We all laughed.

"I'll probably bring more pillows another night, then we can all play." I picked the bowl up from off the ground.

"You promise?" William had asked.

"I promise. Although, I have to somehow convince my parents to let us have a slumber party." In my head that sentence was actually, "Although, I have to somehow convince my parents that their cars are living beings."

...Wow, that was a long flashback... Over time, I believe we forgot that promise or I decided that my parents would never believe me. Either way, it was never fulfilled for nine years.

After recalling a promise made over nine years ago, I rolled over to the couch, picked up a sofa cushion, and froze in place for a few moments to build tension. "CHARGE!!" I rushed over to Kristopher and (pwap!)'d him back.

Pillow Fight: Battle Royale ensued. Soon, everyone had a pillow in a tire to defend themselves and to assault anyone nearby. After ten minutes, Tarin decided to arm herself with two pillows. It seemed pretty effective, as she was able to take out her fiance and the elder of his two cousins at once, until she somehow ran over the pillows. Kristopher and I were taking turns laughing and hitting each other with our pillows, when we were suddenly put in a blizzard of feathers.

"Aah, I'm going blind!" Kristopher screamed.

"You're not going blind," Tarin said as the feathers gradually fell to the floor.

When vision was restored, I looked over to Kristopher. I burst into laughter immediately. "You look like freaking duck!"

Kristopher blew a couple of feathers from his mouth and smirked. "So do you!"

Tarin reversed a few feet to reveal two flattened pillowcases on the floor.

"That's...kind of a sign that we should be finishing our pillow fight now," Derek said slowly.

Their house had two bedrooms. Derek and Kristopher informed me that they slept in their own beds in the master bedroom, while the other bedroom was just a den. When Tarin and Derek got married, they shared the master bedroom, and the den became Kristopher's own room. I had planned on going to sleep on the floor alongside William, but when Kristopher saw me setting up a purple blanket in the middle of the living room, he insisted on having us switch sleeping spots.

Before turning off the light, I glanced around Kristopher's room. There was a poster or two of bands of which I noticed the names were familiar, but were slightly more automobile-inclined, a dresser, interestingly, considering cars didn't wear any type of clothing, at least to my knowledge, and a night stand with a stereo on top of it. The stereo reminded me of the one I had back home: stacked with CD cases.

Home. I hoped I would be able to make it back there.

Just before I turned off the light, I heard a light knock on the door.

"You can come in," I called.

It was Kristopher at the door. "So, is everything all right?"

"Yeah, it's fine," I replied. "You didn't have to give up your bed, you know. I was fine with sleeping out there–"

"No, it's okay. It would be rude of me not to."

"Well, then, thank you. It's really sweet of you."

Kristopher smiled. "You're welcome. Good night, Maria."

"Good night, Kristopher."

"Oh, and I'm glad you remembered your promise."

Kristopher closed the door, which for some reason, was preceded by the sound of some object hitting the floor.

I laughed to myself and turned out the light.

I hope you liked this chapter, if so, then please review. I enjoyed typing it up. I made at least three refrences to inside jokes from that website I mentioned at the end of the first chapter. If there are any more than that, I'm not aware of them!